Pommie's Road Trip
Darwin to Adelaide in Four Days

 
My name is Mark Widdall or 'Pommie' (v1718) to my mates, and I have been living in Darwin at the Top End of Oz for over 6 yrs. Darwin is a tropical city with temps averaging 32 c and 50-90% humidity.....yeah! we don't mind it. The Northern Territory (State) has two seasons, the wet and the dry, we like to keep things simple.

Last year my business partner and supplier purchased another company and we soon found out they had bitten off more than they could chew which had the net effect of restricting supply to my business and reducing our turnover and income, to cut a long story very short we had to end our partnership and bow out after 20 yrs.

Darwin has a very relaxed lifestyle and everything is no more than 10 mins ride away so one becomes very spoiled, a traffic jam at 8am is 5 cars and a bicycle!! With this in mind my wife and I looked for another business for 7 months but to no avail and after much thought we decided to move the family back to Adelaide in South Australia, 3120 k's from the Timor Sea .

This is the story of my trip down the centre of Croc Dundee country from Darwin to Adelaide, my biggest trip on my own and what some people over here still consider 'crazy' to do solo........

October 30th 2002 Day 1

I woke at approx 6am with blue sky and lush green palms swaying against my bedroom windows. There was a gentle breeze flowing through the room, that's one advantage of living in an elevated home with louver window ventilation .The parrots were waking the neighbours and the dogs were downstairs trying to catch the native birds (fat chance) I proceeded to get my act together, for this was the day I had been waiting for, even if I was nervously excited.

It wasn't long and the house was filled with screaming kids and breakfast was being had by my bunch of rugrats, nobody was saying much about my trip, they were more interested in their stomachs, so I proceeded to do some last minute check's on the scoot and my backpack.

I proceeded downstairs' and gave the Mistress the once over, everything seemed just dandy.. I had gone over the bike many times the last few days and was confident that she was as good as she could be...but I was still uneasy. The Mistress has a history of being mmmmm shall we say....contrary, I remember too well our last trip to Kununurra in Western Australia were Dee and I had to bus back due to the Mistress's radiator going west!!! still, I couldn't afford to dwell on that scenario.

7.30am came along and I was sitting on the scoot with my backpack firmly strapped behind, between me and my sissy bar (F&S) , I was going to really appreciate that backpack over the next few days. I had managed to keep the contents of the pack to a minimum, Deidre had wanted to pack half the house into it, she has always been this way ,"just in case dear" was always the reason. I had plenty of water, the most important thing on board, along with a spare tube,footpump,plugs,fuses,maps,5ltr petrol can, foodbars, raingear(?),clothes and medic bag. Soon the time came to leave , there I sat with wife and kids gathered around all looking at me rather strange....they had never said goodbye to their old man before knowing they would not see me return, they would have to wait until early December before following me to Adelaide, after finishing school in Darwin.

I hit the start button and the Mistress fired up and I gave Dee a hug said my last 'See-ya'
and headed off......first stop...petrol.

After filling up I headed out of town which means I headed south ....its the only way one can go, one road in and the same road out. The Stuart Highway-named after John Stuart(1815-1866)who crossed the continent in 1862 with 71 horses,9 men and provisions for 30 weeks, heads south all the way to Adelaide. The highway was going to take me through the only two main towns on the way to Adelaide, they being Katherine at 300k's pop 5000 and Alice Springs at 1500k's pop 20,000.

There would be many other stops along the way, mostly roadhouse's and the first of these was to be a coffee break at Adelaide River, 100k south of Darwin. The ride to Adelaide River was a cool, sunny jaunt as always, its a popular destination for local bikers and consists of 2 petrol stations , a Deli (small general store) postal and police station that open when needed(?) . The local BP gets most of the business as it also is tied to the AR Pub and camping area, as well as gives all drivers (riders) free coffee, passengers have to pay $2 ($1US). I had my coffee and time was getting away, it had ticked past 9am and I wanted to be in Katherine by 11.30am so I said cheerio to a few people looking at and discussing the Mistress and headed off , next stop Pine Creek.

The 'highway' is two lane and is in good condition most of the way , it has soft verges and is often one or two metres higher than the lay of the land, this is due to monsoon rains washing out roads in the past which still happens but not as often, although the whole of Katherine was put under 4+ metres of water a few years ago . The terrain between Adelaide River and Katherine consists of low wooded plains and gentle hills with rocky outcrops, most of the land being part of huge cattle ranches (we call them stations) or mango farms etc. Cattle stations in the NT are amongst the largest in the world if not the largest, some being larger than the state of Texas.

Pine Creek is 90k north of Katherine and I arrived at this sleepy 'hamlet', not much goes on here except in the Pub....yeah ...there's always a pub!!! It use to be a mining town a hundred yrs ago but now it caters for the tired tourist who just wants to stretch a leg and get a drink under the hot Aussie sun, I stopped for a minute had a sip of my 'tube fed water bottle' rubbed my butt and headed for Katherine.

So far so good, all was normal and the scenery familiar. My brother in law Martin and family live in Katherine so they were expecting me to pop in and say G'day and Cheerio as I passed through. I arrived at their door at about 11.30 having plodded at a casual 90kph . Martin came out to greet me with a big smile which he always wears, unlike me, some folk just have that sparkle don't they? As always with rellies, I stayed longer than I planned and headed of at about 12.30pm waving goodbye to my nephews and the rest of the gang.

This was where I started to get a few butterflies , I had ridden to Martins many times on W/end trips but had never gone south past Katherine, it was now all unknown 'Territory' so to speak, and words like " don't ride alone, its not the place to get stuck" echoed in my mind.

The road seems wider on the other side of Katherine and it certainly looks a bloody sight straighter. I locked the Vista on a 100kph and leaned back on my backpack and started soaking up uncharted waters. The sun was at its peak and after an hour the temperature was still climbing, it had hit 43c and the road surface was a hell of a lot more than that. I decided to let some air out of the tyres as I did not want a blowout due to the riding conditions, this I did on the side of the road next to a sign which read Dunneera 300k, Alice Springs 900k Adelaide 2750, the road ahead was just a shimmer which seemed to go forever and since I had left Katherine I had seen only one car heading north ...I was on my own!

I sipped some water and hopped back on the Mistress and off we headed settling in to a steady pace and thinking all the things one does on a trip......why am I doing this? will I make it? wonder what's down the road? will Dee survive on her own with 3 rugrats? and so on so forth. The heat was getting rather tedious but I could not let it bug me too much as I had to get at least 600+ ks today. I had allowed for a short (km) first day even though I would prefer to be in Renner Springs the first night (750k), the heat was going to prevent that, getting heatstroke was not on my list of to do's !

The scrub and small trees were growing up to the road edge along with the long-grass, long-grass is exactly that and can grow up to 5 metres tall in a few days, its home to many aborigines and they are called 'longrass's' but one things for sure...you don't want to be caught in it when it goes up in smoke!!! The afternoon passed with my will pitted against the heat of the Territory, I was close to Dunneera roadhouse and would arrive there at 4.30, a little tired from the heat and wondering whether to proceed to Renner Springs or not? Dunneera roadhouse is set back off the road on a gentle curve , one you would not notice was there (the curve) unless you stood in the driveway of the bowsers and looked left and right, again nothing to see but a long stretch of road,

There was about a dozen people here, a couple of 4WD's, a coach and a car or two and of course a few stray dogs hanging out for whatever they could get from passers by. I decided to give Dee a call to let her know I was ok and how far I had come, she didn't want me going onto Renner and as it was getting near 5pm, I was inclined to agree, riding around dusk is not too smart up here, its feeding time for all the native animals, Kangaroos , wild buffalo etc and they seem to love playing chicken!!! I didn't need a fender mount. So...I got myself a $5 patch of grass and pitched a tent, my sons one-man lego inspired accommodation amused the tourist who saw a 'biker' put up a tent like no other ever has........instant pop up....bullshit!

With the tent set and the bike right next to it, I decided it was time for a shower, so I got my shit together and proceeded to the shower block a few feet away, An old fibro transportable up on bricks revealed a row of sinks and a further row of dunnies and showers. The lino floors were showing the floorboards underneath and what was once new fiberglass molded shower cubicles were now in various stages of disrepair...but the showers worked and I didn't care about the surroundings, after all it was still clean even if it looked worn out. I felt a little embarrassed for our tourists that had to use the facilities, not a good showing. Shower being had I proceeded back to the tent and had a nap for an hour before going to the roadhouse for dinner. The menu was typical of our roadhouses down the 'track' and gave good selection, most will give generous serves and I was not up to a big meal so I asked for a half serve of fish and chips and while waiting, a few beers and looked at some amazing buffalo horns hanging on the walls as well as memorabilia of life as a jackaroo in these parts. My dinner came with a smile from the lady who owned the RH , my half serve was a mass of fresh salad , a pile of the best chips ever and...... 5 fish!!!!! Holy baramundi Batman !!! "the fish is small today so we gave you a few extra, ok luv!" she said. $3.50 US that cost me....in Darwin it would have been $US11.00.
There's a something special about a zillion stars in the sky, so clear you can almost touch them just hanging there amongst the total silence of the never never...not a sound, not even a passing car late at night , I crawled into the tent and lay on my self inflating mattress (thanks dear) and sank into the land of the dreaming.........


Nov31 2002 Day 2

With the slam of a car door and a chicken pecking around the tent my second day starts. The sky is as blue as ever, no cloud as always this time of year, and a slight morning breeze to freshen the start of the day. A quick trip to the dunny out of the way and time to check our plan for today? Looking over the map it was gonna be a big day, I wanted to get to the Alice and I prayed it was not going to be as hot, the temperatures do cool down the closer you get to the centre due to cross desert winds from the west, but there's always the exception.

I proceeded to pack up, this did not take very long as my backpack was well organised (thanks dear) and after this task was done I wondered over to the RH and had a coffee. I was the only person in the restaurant and the few staying in the units were still dreaming. Coffee done ,I walked back to the Mistress and put on my vest, VROC patch adorning the back and I wondered if it was gonna upset any clubs (1%) I may run into on my trip, only time would tell. I was set to leave, looking at the clock on my instrument bezel I realised it was only 7am which was great, I had all day to get to Alice .

The road south of Dunneera is more of the same, very straight with thousands of square kilometres of opens plains softly rolling by either side of the Mistress. I was soon to arrive at a small township of Elliot where everything seemed to be placed on the right hand side of the road with fields on the left. It was a little strange seeing planted crops after so much red soil and scrub.

I pulled into the Mobil and topped up the scoot juice and listened to a young fella (mid 20;s) tell me all about his Kwaka 750 triple and the Harley that his wife refuses to spend anymore money on fixing!!! He gazed at the Mistress and his face told me he was trapped in the middle of nowhereland and if only he could get his scoot going............a local broke his gaze and dragged him back to his mundane misery, I paid him, he wished me luck on my trip. Heading off once again I was on my way to Tennant Creek, an RAAF base where our air jockeys live, this was approx 250 ks away and I was keen to get there as it meant I had covered one third of my trip, with the Alice being my half way point.

The scenery changed to a much more open scrubland setting, one could see over vast plains left and right with small trees clinging to life scattered over the tundra. The heat of the day had not yet arrived and I was relieved, but I knew it would be down the road waiting for me, it was just a matter of time.

The Mistress had purred all the way, I was wondering how the D6 plugs were doing, Kaw had suggested they be used due to excessive carbon build up I was getting and Glen at Kaw Tech
suggested hardly anyone still uses D7s anymore, meanwhile I was approaching Renner Springs which was a bit of a dive. I pulled in and filled up ,minding my own business and paying no attention to a busload of tourists that had been heading to Darwin. A husband and wife broke away from the mass of souvenir hunters ( yes.. c'mon buy a stuffed koala....made in Taiwan.....)and stood staring at the only bike they had seen. "Da. dis iz a Harley.. yes?" came a voice of German authority pointing to the Mistress and showing his wife. I smiled at her and turned to him and said "nina mine heir, das is a Volkswagen yah! " and let them wonder. There are no markings on the Mistress and it was time to have a bit of fun.......ok , so I'm an asshole sometimes.

Had a drink and paid for the scoot juice, perved at the babe behind the counter...'if only' and returned to the scoot to see most the tourist gathered around the 'Volkswagen...hehe!

You going to Darwin ya! said one, "no, I am going to Adelaide" I replied . They looked in horror and spoke to each other and started to show real concern for my safety, I assured them it was no big deal, Europeans do have a problem grasping our distances, they just don't travel that far over there. So......I said farewell to the Gerries and off I went again, the sun was a bit warmer by now, approx 30c but was still ok at 100-120 kph. Tennent Creek was only 150ks or so away and I had just realised as the Mistress took me onward, that I was becoming at ease with the trip and things seemed ok, I patted the tank and muttered "get me there in one piece girl, don't screw up this time".

I was about 20k outside Tennent Creek and the terrain for some 50ks or so had been dead pan flat and parched, so I almost wet myself with laughter when I passed a hand painted sign in the middle of nowhere saying...'Please keep of the grass', Aussie humour and placed for maximum effect at the side of the road for all to see, if not understand.

Well, Tennent Creek was closed, it was Sunday after all. I filled up at the servo, checked the tyres and said hi to a black leather clad Ducati Monster and owner, who wasted no time in heading off, that was the only other scoot so far(1200ks).I wondered slowly down the main st and took in Tennent, it wasn't anything to write home about and as I was not that hungry I kept going, feeling that it was better to get to Alice sooner rather than later.

Next stop was going to be Warchope or Wycliff Wells (240k/260k) and I had not planned on a specific one, I relaxed and let the Mistress do her thing and once again soaked up the scenery which was starting to become undulating and wooded in parts with a few escarpments that seemed to follow us down the highway, millions of years of mother nature had created this still untouched tundra.....I was so insignificant amongst all this vastness.

Warchope came up quicker than expected or seemed too anyway, and like so many of these places the have a population of about 6 and are really there just to serve the passing traveller, I decided to carry on and stop at Wycliff Wells.......this decision was going to be one of the strangest decisions I had ever made. Welcome to the Twilight Zone........

Pommie meets the X-Files- Wycliffe Wells, left hand side of the highway and you could easily miss it if you were screamin' through. Set about 60 meters of the highway and about 4 meters below road level it was not easy to see the roadhouse entrance , but eventually found my way into the servo. I was not taking any notice of the surrounding buildings and 'other' objects outside the roadhouse. I looked for a pump that worked and parked the scoot, realising it was now getting bloody hot ( for a Territorian) about 43c I decided I could afford a decent stop and I figured I was about 400k out of Alice and it was about 1pm, so I filled the mistress and started to walk toward the servo door......... WAKE UP NODDY!!!! what the Fu$#1 is all this crapp?

The entire station was painted in blues and purple and silver, murals covered the facade with scenes of UFO's and Aliens everywhere.. and a space ship and little green men stood at the doorway, it seemed to me these people had had a bit to much sunshine??. Inside was the owner who I paid for the petrol, and got some lunch from, all the while looking at hundreds of newspaper cuttings all over the inside of this place revealing that Wycliff Wells was the Space Central for passing traffic of another kind????? maybe the rest of my trip would be via a different mode of transport?

I left the store to sit outside in the shade to relax, then it began, remember I have only seen one bike in 1200 k, I could have stopped a Warchope but I decided to keep going and stop here....I heard a bike in the distance, it was approaching from Alice, as it came into view it was what I figured to be a hog, afterall I'm as blind as a bat even with my glass's. A very large biker aboard the scoot, wearing black tank top, black lid, black jeans, black ripple boots and BLACK shades, on a stinkin hot day (duh!) Sitting there watching him pull in up to the pumps, I began to see the bike better (48 y.o eyeballs aren't that great) and I began to smile, I know those drag bars and inverted forks....I walked over and yep..a Meanie was at Wycliff and it was BLACK!!!!.

Rob was out for a ride and decided that his ride to Ailron 100k north of Alice was to short, so he had decided to keep going to Wycliffe Wells. I told him I had not seen any scoots bar the Duke and we both found it weird that we had met by chance based on our decisions to 'keep going'. Rob had had his Meanie for 6 weeks and was as proud a punch, he was all over the Mistress and had lots of question regarding her custom work . We chinwagged for a while and as he was headed home ( Alice) I had my first riding partner as far as Alice.

We both mounted our scoots and I put my vest on, he looked and saw the patch , I winked and started the Mistress, Rob almost wet himself , " man that sounds fucking awsome" he screams
I smile again and agree, this day was turning out pretty good. We sped away from our alien friends and headed for the Alice, with any luck we will get there by 5.30.....well that was the plan.

At first Rob kept to my right rear and hung there for a while, I later found out he just wanted to soak up the sound of the Mistress's pipes,( he's probably gutted his by now). I felt better having company, it made this part of the trip feel safer, I felt Robs habit of riding the white line on the edge of the road verge pretty nutso, a small deviation into the dust and it would be Meanie gone Greenie, I gave him plenty of room. 180 ks and we arrived at the dusty door step of the Barrow Creek post office, its not what anyone would expect. After pulling off the road and riding down a very dusty track we come op to a petrol bowser (paddlocked) and a small stone building.

The door in the side of the old brick wall had a sign which read 'Bar' and so in we went. The room was all of 2 metres by 6mtrs and the bar was one step inside the door, enough room for 4 or 5 standing . The walls revealed a long bush history and gave an instant impression that folk round these parts were a different breed! The walls were covered with old dollar bills, hundreds of them, while backpackers had signed their names to every nook and cranny they could find. I guess the Falconio's (Murdered here abouts) were here not long before their tragedy. Rob got himself a Coke and we departed, leaving this strange little bar in the middle of nowhere.
Aileron came up in 150ks, leaving about 90 odd ks to go , we topped the tank and had a beer... well a few, the local Aborigines gathered around to look at the scoots, the younger ones realizing the chance to own a machine like these was near impossible for them, we have a lot to answer for when it comes to the natural population of Oz, we said cheerio to all the young aboriginal kids, gathered our lids and then set out for the Alice.

5.45 and the sun was headed stateside and dusk was slowly turning to night, sitting on about 120kph, Rob, ahead and left of me, suddenly braked and swerved, in a split second a big red roo jumped across our front, all anchors hit the bitumen and a second later it had passed and bounced of into the bush. "Holy shit, that was close" I said to myself, Rob was lucky and he knew it! We turned down the speed dial and put the radars on high alert and coasted into Alice , we were to encounter another 3 roos.....tonight was not the night for riding. We hit the outskirts of Alice at 6pm, I was happy to be there at last.

A busy tourist destination smack in the middle of Oz, surrounded by mountain ranges and scenery you have to see to believe. Rob led me too the The Gap Motel, placed and named after the gap in the surrounding hills. The road leaves Alice via the Gap and that's where I would eventually be heading myself the following morning. We were at our trips end for the day and Rob was home, so we decided to have tea at the motel bar, we ordered hamburgers and beer and played pool while it was prepared. Rob played host by talking the owner into letting me camp behind the motel for the night, $US5 was the fee. When the evening came to a close, Rob was off on a 'promise' from a local lass and I was all to keen to get a good nights kip.........it was not going to be.

I took the Mistress around the back to the big double gates that I had been told to unlock and close behind me( in case of unwanted squatters) . Once inside I realized I was in a massive caravan and camping area that was under construction and almost completed, outside of a few cosmetics, I had the whole place to myself, I pitched the tent and made sure the Mistress had a Premium parking area undercover , then proceeded to have my shower and get ready for some well deserved rest. Ever had one of those nights where you want your wife to put you out of your misery with a gun? " For christ sake someone please shoot me" ..... but to no avail, the only sound for a million sq klms was that of my intestines and stomach at war with a hamburger that refused to die. It was an all night battle, I discovered 3 huge gum trees that night as I ran toward the dunnies and falling short to face a tree instead, this new caravan park was getting a bloody good christening, or maybe organic fertiliser was a better term!!!

After managing to fall asleep at 4.30am I eventually woke to the sound of the local kookaburras, looking thru the mozzi net I could see what had been hidden by darkness the previous night. Alice is surrounded by the most beautiful scenery that mother nature can muster, I cannot do it justice by trying to describe what I awoke to, but it was a glorious sight to behold .Clear blue skies falling over golden mountain ranges covered in white ghost gums and blue gums, then toss in some roos and hundreds of parrots, kukuburras..wow!

The morning was cool with a soft breeze and it seemed to make me feel a little better, I managed to coax the motel cleaning lady into giving a sick young lad a cuppa and this helped revive me enough to realise I would not need to phone home and tell family I was crook (Sick). After having a light breaky I organised myself and the Mistress to set off once more but decided that as I was on schedule and so I would take it slow on the way out of Alice and enjoy the cool breeze coming across the desert. 1500k done 1530k to do..............


1.11.02 Monday Day 3

After filling up I plodded out of Alice and proceeded through the Gap and down the highway, it was a beaut day. I sat on about 80kph for and hour or so letting my tum settle down a little more. The landscape was unlike that above the Alice, here I was amidst rolling gentle hills with taller gums speckled across the red soil. I slowed down to about 20k as I drew close to a pair of eagles standing at attention on the side of the road. I assumed they were feeding off of some roadkill, but they were just perched there relaxing having a conversation. They did not fear me or the throbbing of the Mistress, staring at me as much to say.. "yeah, I know I look majestic, but take a look at my talons buster!" I admired them from about 5 metres , they were huge beautiful birds, I would have gotten closer but I was not that game to try.

About a 100k or so outside Alice I stopped at Jims Place, a caravan park and roadhouse. here I met an old lady who had been here forever and came out to Oz from Yorkshire UK. Her accent had not deserted her and it was like being at Granma's, my gran was from Bradford and I being from Darlington in Durham about 100 mile north. We had a few stories to tell each other and she decided to play Gran and suggested a Ginger Ale to help my tummy trouble, it was a good suggestion as it worked wonders. I thanked her, paid for my scoot juice which was getting very expensive per litre by now, it tends to do that the farther you go, and set sail once more.
Getting into a nice pace and with the vista cruise taking care of business I leaned back on my pack and dreamed of life in general, what was in store for me, the family , what did the future hold?

I had plenty of time to mull over various options but the bottom line was I hadn't a clue at where life was heading, only that the Mistress and I had better get to where we had too, Adelaide.

I had decided that a few songs were in order, feeling better than a few hours before I decided that it was time to wake up the local Fauna with a rendition of Cliff Richards 'Summer Holiday'
and anyway, who the hell could hear it but me?

The Stuart Highway has dozens of parking stops along its route. These provide shelter in the form of a tin roof supported by a square frame and a table and chairs underneath, usually cast out of concrete as well as emergency phone when possible and a water tank...which always states " drink at your own risk" So I guess you can die of thirst in the desert or from being poisoned???? well, any way I was passing such a 'stop' when I noticed a scoot parked,2 riders relaxing and they waved as I passed by, I returned the wave and kept going, I had no need to stop so soon after Jims Place.

15 minutes had passed by, the scenery gently rolling on either side of the Mistress and I, seeing for miles around over gentle sweeping golden brush and tall gum trees, zoom.....a crotch rocket came screamin' past. As I was not in any hurry at this time of day I let them go ahead realising it was the two bikers that were at the rest stop I had passed. We were both on our way south, I was to find out later at the Eridunda roadhouse (the turnoff to Ayers Rock) that it was a young couple on a 250 Kwaka. We pulled in to the road house and exchanged a few stories about the trip so far, they had ridden from Sydney to Brisbane and across to Alice and were heading to Coober Pedy ( Opal City of Planet Earth) and then back to Sydney......all in 10 days!!!!!!!!! NUTS!!!

Take a look at an atlas.. thats one long ride, and the poor girl having to sit on a fender with a seat the size of a cigar packet.....must be love! So, we rode together and planned to be in Coober Pedy by 5.30pm...I figured we may be late as it was still 600k away.

100k from Eridunda is the South Australian/ Northern Territory Border, here we stopped and took pics alongside the large monuments that mark this lonely outpost, once done we moved on.

Part of the character of the Territory and the Outback are the large roadtrains that travel up the centre of Oz. Huge trucks with up to six tandem loads share the two lane roads, you have to be very aware and alert. We were sitting on 120kph when a BP tandem tanker with 4 tanks (yeah.. the full size versions) came screaming past us at what must have been 150+ ! Head down, knees clenched and hang on to your koala's buddy......jesus........what happened to government regulations preventing these bloody great things from going over the maximum 100kph eh! Well, who out here to see him do it?

It took another fuel stop and a few hours to get to Cooper Pedy, approaching from about 10k out at approx 6.30pm it was rather surreal. The area is very strange to see for the first time, geology has done many strange things around here, or maybe those aliens were to blame for thousands of moon style craters littering hundreds of square kilometres of the white sandy terrain. Signs are everywhere, "Don't enter -restricted area- danger-mineshafts" and there are thousands of shafts dug by those chasing a dream of opal.

I decided to stay at a local motel campsite, my two riding companions wanted to try a bed in an underground hotel.. yes.. underground.  Coober Pedy gets bloody hot (50c+), so most people live underground in home of great luxury carved out of the sandstone rock. To the tourist that visits CP for the first time the place looks like the arsehole of the world on the surface, but underneath lies a whole different world. My night was made up of tea at the motel after pitching the tent etc, I walked over to the servo to get a flavoured milk and was followed back by two local aborigines.. eh huh! I kept my cool and walked as if nothing was amiss, waiting to see which one was gonna have a go first. Heading down through the motel carpark they were still on my tail and one move up closer at which time I had turned to walk toward my scoot parked over on the grass, they could not see it at that moment, as I got closer to the scoot they stopped dead in there tracks and stared, I wondered why? it appeared they had spotted my vest draped over the bike and they had seen the patch......it didn't matter who's patch it was, they weren't game to find out. it was a Kodak moment for sure, I gave a giggle and settled in for the night.


Day 4 Tuesday 2.11.02

I woke pretty early, it was 6am and bitter cold & crisp like most desert towns are, picked up my stuff and headed for the showers hoping I had enough 20cent coins to get some hot water, a restricted commodity in CP. Shower done, I gave the scoot a once over, then packed up ready for the last leg to Adelaide, approx 830k ...it was going to be a long day.

The Mistress and I cleared the hill rise above CP at 7 am, nobody around but the gas station attendant and everyone else still underground no doubt. Before me lay what has to be the flattest nothingness outside of the North pole.....I prayed it was not for long, but it was going to last at least to Glendambo 255k down the road. I would like to say I saw interesting things on this stretch of road, but outside of a few massive salt lakes it was just plain boring and Glendambo was nothing to talk about other than the stale muffins at the roadhouse. This place would come alive with thousands of tourists in a few weeks after I passed through...the Eclipse was on the agenda, with only a small pub and a couple of homes to boast, it would be a nightmare for the visitors that expected any creature comforts this far north of South Australia's capital.

Pimba was the next stop for a fuel top up 113k away, then on to Port Augusta another 100k. The terrain remained constantly dull and started to make me appreciate what I had already seen before the border crossing. South Australia is the driest state in the country, and I wont argue with that....Whilst at the Pimba Roadhouse a duststorm gathered up force and blacked out visibility to about 3 meters, it was quite amazing to see, even if I was a bit concerned for the Mistress sitting by the bowser, as I looked out from inside the comfort of the front bar. The storm stopped as suddenly as it started and signalled my departure once more, I started to get excited at reaching a familiar town, Pt Augusta. Rolling hills and green fields started to return into view, this was a pleasant relief, farmhouses signalled the outskirts of civilisation and the shrinking wide open space's I had crossed .

Arriving in Pt Augusta( large farming rural town) at about 2pm, I was feeling pretty bushed, so I rode into the Mobil and ordered lunch deciding a 30 minute break was in order. I was to find out later in the day that a day off would have been better ...oh so much better. Whilst eating lunch the Mobil played host to about 20 bikers all heading in various directions, some going to Perth on Harleys and others headed were I had been, all friendly and none believing my scoot had ridden down the centre, as it looked as if it had just been highly detailed (not for a week or more)...yes it was rather clean considering. I chinwagged with a few fellow's and then organised myself to get on to Adelaide where I had a friend waiting to put me up for the night, this was to be at about 5.30-6pm...but no...mother nature was waiting for me down the road with other plans in mind.

Riding about 30 minutes in traffic just outside Pt Augusta, dark clouds started to gather from the seaward side of the highway. The road to Adelaide runs along the coast for about 300k, and within 10 mins it was starting to spit, so I pulled over and put my wets on.

Over the next half hour the rain got steadily heavier and the wind stronger, not that bad but just enough to wish you were doing other things than riding in freezing conditions, well to me anyway, I was not use to temp's under 22C and I was starting to wonder how Deidre and the kids would hate the weather when they arrived...god it was cold!

Head down and bum up I was starting to think the wind would never stop gettin stronger, it just kept getting worse as did the rain. Steering the bike constantly to the centre of the road against the wind and trying very hard to keep the bike at a constant 60-70kph was becoming a task and my shoulders started to complain along with the rest of my sodden body. I was about 45k north of PT Wakefield and decided that riding in what was to become known as the worst gale force winds to cross S.A in 10 years( why didn't someone tell me) was getting too risky. Slowing down to try and stop(40kph) proved more dangerous than riding it out, the wind took control of the scoot at slower speeds and I was gonna lose her, at about 45-50kph things were getting hairy and I was glad Dee had no idea of what was going on, she was 2700k's away and would have had kittens if she could see this idiot stubbornly pushing ahead . Gritting my teeth( and my arse) I swore and cursed all the way to Pt Wakefield, my tank indicating empty and having covered only half the normal distance, the weather conditions were extreme ...would my fuel reserves make it?

5pm arrived as I pulled in to the closest servo in Wakefield, running on fumes and totally rooted. My arms told my body I was not a 20y.o anymore and my back agreed, my arse and crotch joined in the conversation also. Standing alone in the middle of a wind swept arcade of petrol bowsers I took on the form of local entertainment for the station staff, they were ok, snug and warm inside the roadhouse.

I had ridden in many conditions over the years but none as nasty as what I had just been through, it was now I had notice while reaching for change in my pocket of my wets, I had no wets....
Just as if I had been blown up in a keystone cop movie, I stood in front of all to see with my pants shredded in long even strips as far as my knees.. and nothing below...both legs held together only by my fly zip. Asking the girl at the counter for a pair of scissors and receiving the same, I finished the job that mother nature had started and placed what was left of my pants in the bin.

Coffee was offered to me by a very nice kid at the counter, " you look like you could use this' she smiled, it was hard to disagree, warming my hands on the Urn, not feeling anything of the warmth for quite some time, it made trying to hold the coffee a comedy.

Outside the wind blew hard, telling us it was not going away so easily, while the rain had subsided, and as if timed by a comedian...the sun came out, standing with coffee in hand looking out the window I just grinned thinking life was just a script, it could not have been written any better, now the F%#%@%ing sun shines!!!!!

Topping the tank for the last time I headed off on the last 150k, it would be three lane highway all the way to Adelaide, very wet road surface and cold, but no rain, I locked the vista on 100kph and headed at top legal speed for home.

Adelaide is a very beautiful city, surrounded by hills and market farms and wineries. It has been compared to Edinburgh in Scotland and Austin in Texas for those who wish to 'get a picture' of what it resembles. Manufacturing the GMH Commodore Monaro (Pontiac GTO) and Mitsubishi Magna as well as being the wine centre of Australia.

The highway returns to city chaos at Gilles Plains, a suburb 15k north of Adelaide city, it was here the Mistress started to cough and splutter making sounds never before heard. I managed to get her running if I gave her some choke and this is how it stayed as we passed through the city and up to arriving at Steves place where I was staying, arriving an hour later than planned over 3000k's was not a bad effort, I was home safe, but the mistress was to be diagnosed with gasperitus over the next few weeks.....yeah! weeks(12) you read it correctly.

This is a whole other story beyond belief.........some other time maybe, I was home and had to get the Adelaide house back in order before the gang arrived in 8 weeks time...of course I did not know I would be without my scoot.............but thats a whole new story.................


Pommie V1718
Adelaide
D2 1500 'Mistress'
 

This page has had visitors since July 8th 20003

back to stories page